THIS WEEKEND Mutants
ruled the planet as the highly-anticipated comic book sequel X2:
X-Men United opened with a mammoth explosion grossing $85.6M
in North American theaters over the weekend, according to final
studio figures, making it the fourth largest debut in box office history.
Giving the summer movie season an early start, the Fox blockbuster debuted
in a record 3,741 theaters and averaged a scorching $22,871 per venue.
Directed by Bryan Singer (X-Men, The
Usual Suspects), the PG-13 film reunited the cast of heroes
and villains including Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, and
Ian McKellen.

Fox also opened X2 in 93 international
markets and grossed an additional $69.3M overseas making it a towering
$154.9M global debut. After just a few days, the sequel has already grossed
more than half of the $294M that X-Men collected
worldwide in 2000. The global gross this weekend also surpassed the estimated
$110M production budget of X2.

The domestic bow of X2 surged an
amazing 57.1% higher than the $54.5M opening of X-Men
from July 2000. The original installment averaged $18,007 from
3,025 theaters and went on to gross $157.3M domestically. The audience
growth precisely matched that of another recent set of big-budget summer
franchise pictures - Universal's The Mummy
films. In May 1999, The Mummy opened
to $43.4M and was followed two years later by The
Mummy Returns which debuted to $68.1M for a 57.1% boost. For
both franchises, the first films opened powerfully but expanded their fan
bases throughout the theatrical and home video runs leading to a much larger
audience excited enough to see the sequel on opening weekend.

X2's opening ranks fourth among
all-time bows trailing Spider-Man ($114.8M),
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ($90.3M),
and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ($88.4M).
For Fox, it was a new company record for three-day openings beating the
$80M tally of last May's Star Wars Episode II.
The studio's 3,741-theater launch set a new record edging out the 3,682
count that the second Harry Potter
went out on.

Reviews were generally favorable for X2.
Males made up 56% of the audience while those over 25 consisted of 52%
of the crowd, according to Fox distribution president Bruce Snyder. Opening
day sales on Friday amounted to a whopping $31.2M, according to Snyder,
making it the third biggest opening day ever after Spider-Man
($39.4M) and the first Potter ($32.3M).
Saturday sales inched up 2% to $32M which was a promising sign as sci-fi
sequels with intensely loyal fans often see the biggest crowds on opening
day and a small decline on Saturday. Sunday grosses dropped 30% to $22.3M.

X2 is expected to top the box office
charts until the hugely-hyped debut of The Matrix
Reloaded which opens on Thursday, May 15 with advance previews
on Wednesday night, May 14. Marvel Comics, creators of the X-Men
brand, will return to conquer the box office with the June 20
bow of The Hulk which Universal is
releasing.

Moviegoers interested in non-mutant entertainment lined up to see Disney's
The Lizzie McGuire Movie which generated
a strong second-place bow with $17.3M. Averaging a solid $6,138 from 2,825
theaters, the $25M PG-rated comedy follows the popular Disney Channel character
on a summer vacation in Rome. Young females made up the bulk of the audience
and Lizzie's opening beat out those
of similarly-targeted spring releases like What
A Girl Wants ($11.4M) and Agent Cody
Banks ($14.1M) which stars Lizzie
star Hilary Duff.

Dropping from first to third place was Sony's suspense pic Identity
which fell a moderate 42% to $9.4M in its sophomore frame to bring its
ten-day cume to a solid $30.2M. The $28M thriller should find its way to
$55-60M. Studio stablemate Anger Management
declined 44% to $8.4M in its fourth weekend for a total to date of $115.3M.
Look for a $135-140M finish.

With young people distracted by X2 and
Lizzie McGuire, Disney's pre-teen drama
Holes sunk 45% to $6.9M putting the
PG-rated film in fifth place. With a robust $45.4M in 17 days, the detention
camp pic should be able to reach $60-65M. Teen comedy Malibu's
Most Wanted fell 45% to $4M pushing its sum to $28.9M. A $35-40M
final tally seems likely for the Warner Bros. release.

Sophomore adult-skewing films Confidence
and It Runs in the Family both dropped
over 40% to weekend takes of $2.5M and $1.6M, respectively. Lions Gate's
$15M pic has grossed $8.5M in ten days while MGM's Michael Douglas film
has collected only $5.2M. Confidence
should reach roughly $15M while Family could
end with about $9M.

In ninth place was the MGM actioner Bulletproof
Monk with $1.47M and a $21.6M cume. Its steep 67% decline was
by far the largest in the top ten. Look for Monk
to finish with less than $25M.

Jumping into the top ten for the first time was the British-Indian hit
comedy Bend It Like Beckham which also
grossed $1.47M in its eighth weekend of limited release. Fox Searchlight
added 62 locations boosting the theater total to 483 and averaged a solid
$3,044 per site. With $11M taken in thus far, and surrounding titles fading
fast, Beckham will continue to expand
and could remain in the top ten for a couple of more weeks.

Enjoying a solid debut in limited release was John Malkovich's directorial
debut The Dancer Upstairs which opened
with $106,142 from thirteen venues for a per-theater average of $8,164.

Three films fell from the top ten over the weekend. Fox's sniper flick
Phone Booth tumbled 51% in its fifth
frame to $1.465M giving the Colin Farrell actioner $42.5M to date. The
$16M production should conclude with around $45M. Warner Bros. watched
What A Girl Wants tumble 64% to $1.2M
for a $34.5M sum. Produced for just over $20M, the teen comedy looks to
end with approximately $37M. Stumbling 71% in its sophomore weekend, New
Line's reality film The Real Cancun
grossed $612,495 and lifted its disappointing ten-day cume to $3.3M. The
$8M non-fiction experiment should end with less than $5M.

The top ten films grossed $138.8M which was down 7% from last year when
Spider-Man opened at number one with
a record-shattering $114.8M; but up 43% from 2001 when The
Mummy Returns debuted in the top spot with $68.1M.

Compared to projections, X2 was
right on target with my $85M forecast, however The
Lizzie McGuire Movie opened stronger than my $12M prediction.

Take this week's NEW Reader
Survey on the opening of The Matrix Reloaded.
In last week's survey, readers were whether X2
would open with at least $80M. Of 1,747 responses, 64% correctly guessed
Yes while 36% thought No.

This column is updated three times each week: Thursday
(upcoming weekend's summary), Sunday
(post-weekend analysis with estimates), and Monday
night (actuals). Data source: Exhibitor
Relations, EDI. Opinions expressed
in this column are those solely of the author.